Marvel Comics

Martin Goodman founded Marvel Comics as Timely Comics in 1939. The small publisher had relative successes with Captain America, the Torch, and the Submariner. In the 1960s, Marvel Comics introduced new series and characters, based on the renewed appeal of super hero comics. Marvel launched Spider-man, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Daredevil, and the X-Men. These new characters were different than previous comic book characters. They had human flaws which they had to overcome to become real heroes. Marvel Comics, is today, one of the largest comic book publisher in North America.

By Hervé St-Louis

Marvel Comics' early business culture is Jewish. Like popular American film and publishing, Jewish promoters created a space apart from the old boy’s club. For years Marvel's publications tethered on the fringes of American culture. It published super heroes, westerns, romance, and horror comics. Marvel's breakthrough was in rebooting its super hero comics. It did so after noticing the success gained by dominant competitor National Comics Periodical or DC Comics.

Marvel Comics’ first attempt was the Fantastic Four. The first issue cover of Fantastic Four copied the layout of a Justice League comic book cover. Marvel did not rely on exchangeable cardboard characters. Instead it played with archetypes. The Fantastic Four were a dysfunctional family. Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) was the father. Susan Richards (the Invisible Woman) was the mother. Ben Grimm (the Thing) and Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) were the sons.

But the genius displayed by Jack Kirby when he created these super heroes was not a lonely affair. Elsewhere other Marvel Comics creators created distinct characters to compete with DC Comics’ properties. Steve Ditko co-created, like Jack Kirby, Spider-man with Stan Lee. Spider-man was not even an adult yet called himself a man. He had money problems and had to learn the hard way what it meant to be a super hero. Unlike the DC Comics’ characters, he wasn’t a Silver Spoon. Every achievement, he earned on his own.

Before the end of the 1960s, the Marvel Comics’ breakthroughs were part of the American cultural landscape. Its comics participated in the contestation of authorities familiar with younger Postwar young Americans.

Marvel Comics created a robust and diverse fictional universe with a strong continuity. It achieved this with a creative mix of planets, aliens, mutants, and freak accidents. This pervasive universe endures quite well to this day.

Marvel Comics' existence was not easy. Unlike competitor DC Comics, it was not part of a large entertainment company until 2008. When Disney bought Marvel in 2008, the publisher had been near bankruptcy many times. Other firms had absorbed, resold, devalued Marvel several times. Marvel sold film licenses of its valuable properties to other firms under less favourable terms.

Marvel Comics is part of the dual competition like Coke and Pepsi in comics. Marvel, of course, was Pepsi, the upstart challenging the established brand. DC Comics, owned the best known super hero characters until Marvel's arrival. Marvel desires to have its super heroes with its own cinematic universe. In this joint venture by Marvel and other studios, it produces its own movies in a cohesive universe. Marvel likes to call itself the house of ideas.